Sunday, August 11, 2013

Festival Latino!


Every year my husband and I make a point of attending the Festival Latino, which has quickly become one of the most important Latin@ festivals on this side of the charco. It used to be in June and now it's in August, which tends to mean that it's impossibly hot and drippy when we go. But this August has been unlike any I remember while living in Ohio because the temperatures have been so nice (more June-like and even premonitory of fall, which I'm in no hurry to get to).

The highlight for me of going to the Festival Latino in Columbus is finding one of the several kiosks of Puerto Rican food and getting myself some typical fare, especially my favorites, the alcapurrias, plantain and yautía (taro root) fritters filled with savory beef.




This year, I got two huge (if pretty ugly-looking) alcapurrias at one kiosk after procuring them at two others and being told (to my dismay) that they were already sold out. My husband, meanwhile, had some arroz con gandules and habichuelas (not very good ones at that), and tostones, or fried plantains.



The crowning event of this year's festival was Rubén Blades, who is a pretty big star in salsa music and who, it appears, visited Columbus for the first time ever, brought here (I'm sure for a pretty penny) by Honda, which sponsored the festival. One of the things that makes this festival unique is that it's free and open to the public, especially to families.


Blades played some of his classics, music that I grew up listening to, and it was great to see what an enthusiastic crowd he played to, even after he was (prima donna like) late by 45 minutes.

The food, the music, the people wearing Puerto Rico-flag shirts and dresses and shorts, everyone speaking Spanish or Spanglish, and the hermandad of the Latin@s during the festival make it a treat each year. Sated after my two huge alcapurrias I now can wait until next summer for another treat. Boricua soy, aunque naciera en la luna.


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